The Reunion
by StudentofDust
Summary: It's time for Miss Yukari's class to come back for their high school reunion. How have they all changed, if at all? OsakaChiyo, YomiOC, TomoOC, YukariNyamo, KaguraOC, implied KaorinSakaki, onesided OsakaOC. Rated for some stuff that might happen later on.
1. Chapter 1

**The Best I Can Be- Sakaki**

She got up early, like she always did. Life as a veterinarian was tough; she had to work odd hours, not to mention the frequent house calls she had to make. This was her passion though, and she loved it- she wouldn't give it up for anything.

Many of her friends had dated, some gotten engaged, a few married- but not Sakaki. She devoted herself completely to her veterinary studies, and later her practice. Not that she didn't want to date- she did; she just put her job before everything else. The very few friends she had were much better off than she was, and they spared no expense in reminding her of it.

"How would you like to go to the game on Saturday?" they would ask her. When she responded, "Sorry, but I'm a bit short on money," they'd say, "Oh yeah, I forgot- you don't make as much as _we_ do…" They would go on their way, laughing amongst themselves. Sakaki hated it, but she knew that, given the chance to give up her beloved profession for one that paid much more, she would turn it down in a heartbeat.

One day, as she got home from work, she heard the phone ringing in the apartment. She got to it, and picked it up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey!" said the voice on the other line.

"Erm, who is this?" asked Sakaki, a bit confused.

"You don't remember me?" said the voice. "It's me! Tomo!"

Sakaki's eyes widened; she hadn't heard from her in years. "Hey, Tomo!" she said. "What's been up with you?"

"Oh, not much really. How 'bout you?"

"Well, I'm a vet now," she replied. "Trying to be the best I can be."

Tomo laughed. "Just like back in high school. Which is the perfect transition into why I actually called. Did you get it?"

Sakaki tried to think. "Did I get what?"

Tomo laughed. "Oh, you know, the-" At that point, the phone went dead.

"The what?" Sakaki asked. She looked at the phone's caller ID and realized what had happened. She set the phone back down on the base, laughing to herself. "Sounds like something that would happen to me…"

She began to flip through her mail- some bills, mostly junk mail. Something caught her eye, though. She squinted at the return address, trying to decipher the almost illegible handwriting. When she finally figured it out, she smiled.

"Now why the heck would Miss Yukari send me a letter?" she asked herself. She opened it carefully and began to read. As her eyes went down the page, she let out a cheer.

"Awesome!" she said. "Our ten-year reunion! I hope Chiyo-chan can make it!

"Keep it down!" yelled the tenant from the next room over.

"Sorry!" Sakaki said. She went into the kitchen to make dinner, ready for the week until the reunion to pass her by.


	2. Chapter 2

**Coming Home- Chiyo-chan**

**--**

Living in the upstairs portion of her friend's place had never really seemed right to Chiyo. Not that she was afraid of heights- she just felt more comfortable on the ground. She had lived with the same friend for the entire 10 years that she'd been in America. Mr. Tadakichi, unfortunately, had passed away a few years earlier, much to Chiyo's sadness.

She never really went by her old nickname of Chiyo-chan anymore. There was only one person that ever called her by her old name, and that was her best friend and life partner, Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga. What a surprise it was for Chiyo when Osaka showed up out of the blue, after not seeing her for over three years. But that's for another story.

When she had gotten to America, Chiyo immediately set out to find the perfect college for her. She found that place in a small town called Paradise, Colorado; the college was called, appropriately, Paradise University. After applying there, she only had to wait a few days before she received her acceptance letter in the mail.

College life in America was nothing like high school life back in Tokyo. Not only was she possibly the youngest person on the campus, at only 14 years old, but the people who went there weren't very nice to her at all. She learned to deal with it after awhile, though, and her classmates' sharp words ceased to bother her.

While attending school full-time, Chiyo had managed to procure a job, working at a McDonalds near the campus; her previous experience working at the fast-food joint back in Tokyo prepared her nicely for working there, and she was very well-liked by most everyone that worked there.

In spite of all the friends she made in America, though, she still missed her friends from back home terribly- even loud-mouthed Tomo. She always smiled when she thought of the fun times they'd all had, and seeing as she thought about them practically all the time… People often asked her why she smiled all the time. "Just remembering," she'd say to them.

Schoolwork wasn't much of a challenge for her; after all, she was Chiyo. Most of her classes came easy to her, save her physics class, and she got that after the first month or two.

Chiyo was amazed at how fast the four years of college in America went, at least for her. It seemed only a few months she was there, and then she was graduating, an education degree in hand.

The day she graduated, she wrote a letter to all of her friends back home. "Hey Gals," the letter said, "I'm graduating college today! Wish me luck as I try to find a job out here! Love y'all always, Chiyo."

Life turned out to be not so easy for her, though; even with her degree, she still couldn't find any schools who would hire her to teach there. "You're only 18," they'd say. "No matter if you graduated college already or not, life as a teacher is way too stressful for an 18-year old to handle."

"But I can handle it!" Chiyo would say, "I promise!" But her words more often than not fell on deaf ears.

She ended up having to support herself working in the preschool program of a local church she had begun to attend. Her life was going quite slowly, and Chiyo hated it. Life passed her by, slow as can be, for three years- until she showed up.

It had been quite the day at the school; a small fire had broken out in the kitchen, which happened to be where the children were at the time, waiting for their snacks. Chiyo had had to rush the kids out while another teacher put the fire out. Between that, and the overall rowdiness of her students, the job was very stressful on her. She made it home, though, extremely tired. When she arrived at her house, there was a sign on the door.

**Chiyo**, the note read, **we're going on a short vacation for a few days. You have the run of the house while we're gone. Try not to throw **_**too**_** big of a party. Love from, Mike and Crystal**

"Home alone," she said to herself as she got in the house. "Like this place wasn't creepy enough already…" She was hungry, but as soon as she sat down, she fell right to sleep.

She woke up around 7:00, to hear a knocking coming from the door.

"Who is it?" she asked, but no answer came. She went over to the door and looked out the peephole; she could vaguely register a person who seemed to be about as tall as she was, but other than that, couldn't tell much about her. She turned on the light, opened the door- and felt her jaw drop wide open.

"Surprised?" Osaka asked, a wide grin crossing her face.

All Chiyo could do was stare. Osaka stepped in and wrapped her arms around her long-lost friend; Chiyo finally snapped out of it and hugged her back.

"Osaka!" Chiyo said. "What- what in the world are you doing here?"

Osaka laughed. "Just coming to America to see my best friend. I'm thinking about staying here, doing some writing."

"Sounds fun," said Chiyo. "You up for some dinner?"

"Am I ever!" exclaimed Osaka, and the two both laughed.

Since that night, three years had passed. Osaka and Chiyo had become partners and had begun living together, in the flat above Chiyo's friends' house- the same one Chiyo had lived in the whole time she was in America. Chiyo had finally gotten a job as a teacher; she taught at an elementary school about ten miles from where she lived. As for Osaka… well, that's for another time.

That day was just another hectic day for Chiyo; rambunctious kids and her car not starting the first time (or the second time, or the third time, or the…) were her main problems each day, and today was no exception. She had to work late that day, coordinating a school bake sale. She got home around 6:00, and was surprised to find Osaka not even there.

"Weird…" she said to herself as she entered, "she's usually here when I get home." She found the mail sitting on the table and began to idly sift through it, wondering what bills she would get today. Surprisingly, no bills were in the stack; what _was_ there, though, was an old-looking envelope with her name on it. She looked at the return address; it was so sloppily written, however, that Chiyo couldn't figure out who it was that sent it. She opened it up.

"Dear Chiyo-chan," she read, "you are invited to…" Her voice trailed off as she read. When she was finished a wide grin was on her face.

"It _has_ been 10 years, hasn't it?" she asked herself. "I'll have to take time off work, but… it'll be great to see all our friends again!" She headed up to her room, smiling. "Just wait 'til Osaka hears about _this_!!!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Looking Out- Osaka**

--

Peering out over the top of the mattress, she gazed at the alarm clock; it read 5:30. Slowly, she picked herself up off the floor and sat on the bed, cradling the side of her head. She had hit it when she fell off the bed, at the sound of her alarm clock. She seemed to never get used to the alarm- whether it was its loudness, or its unexpectedness as she was fast asleep, she had never been able to figure out.

She headed to the bathroom, glancing out the window on the way over. She was greeted by a view of the sun peeking up over the horizon- not completely up yet, but just enough to give a tantalizing preview of what was yet to come.

Osaka simply smiled; this was the part of the day that she cherished the most- besides, of course, the times she spent with her beloved Chiyo-chan. Though, and Osaka hated to admit it, those times were growing further apart these days…

Now, though, she settled into her normal morning routine- she took a quick shower, then headed downstairs to get some breakfast. She'd never really liked eggs much before, but now that she'd started living with Chiyo-chan, she'd grown to like them more.

After she fixed a quick batch of scrambled eggs and toast, she sat down at the table, her work spread out all around her. It seemed as though Osaka had found herself the perfect job- she was working for a highly rated company writing and illustrating children's books. As she bit down into the warm, buttery toast, she began to do what she often did these days- she simply remembered, thinking about how she'd gotten to this point in her life…

• • • • •

After graduation, Osaka headed off to Kaolen University, the same university that her high school friend Tomo was headed to. **(Author's Note: I am taking complete artistic license with the name of the university, as Kiyohiko Azuma never stated the name of the university that Osaka and Tomo would be attending.)** Early on in her first year, she had sat down with her school counselor to discuss her future at Kaolen.

"Do you have any idea what you want to study here?" the counselor had asked her.

Osaka was ready for this one. She'd thought long and hard about what she was going to do there, and had finally arrived at her decision based on the advice of her best friend Chiyo-chan, a few years earlier.

"Education," she replied.

"Any specific type?" the counselor asked. "We have Elementary, Secondary, and Special Education majors here."

Osaka simply thought for a second before replying, "Elementary."

So, she signed up for Elementary Education, and began her classes the next day. Almost immediately, she noticed that she was… different from everyone else. Everyone else was always staring at her; it seemed that her habits, which seemed completely normal to her, left everyone else speechless (and not in a good way, either).

Her fellow classmates shied away from her, as though she were some kind of disease.

Her teachers were constantly getting onto her for falling asleep or daydreaming in class (that much about her, hadn't changed).

-----

It was about a month after school had started. Tsuki walked into her room to find her roommate, and best friend, Osaka, sitting on her bed, crying her eyes out.

"What's wrong?" Tsuki asked, running over to Osaka and wrapping her arms around her.

"I can't take this anymore!" Osaka said, amidst her sobs. "I just don't fit in here! My classmates hate me, my teachers hate me- and _she's_ not here!"

"Who's not here?" Tsuki wondered, but Osaka seemed to not even be able to bring herself to say her name- it just hurt too badly.

Tsuki was about to say something else when Osaka hurtled out of the room, tears still coursing down her face. Tsuki was about to follow her, but stopped; something told her that Osaka had to deal with this on her own, as much as it pained Tsuki to admit it…

It was only a few days later that Osaka left. She packed up her stuff in the middle of the day, so as not to further upset Tsuki (somehow, Osaka knew that Tsuki was extremely concerned about her), and left by taxi, when she'd gotten all of the necessary paperwork filled out.

Since it wasn't yet mid-term, Osaka was able to get her money back that she'd already paid, so she figured she'd use that to rent an apartment and use the rest to survive on, til she was able to find a job and pay her own way.

Problem was, Osaka ran into quite a bit of difficulty in finding a job. She had managed to procure an apartment; it was small, but inexpensive, which was exactly what Osaka needed- she didn't plan on having any parties there. But finding a place to work was a completely different story. Her only work experience was her two summers' work at Magnetron, and that didn't seem to impress potential employers very much.

But if there was one thing that Osaka had never given up on, it was… well, not giving up. So, she kept at it, applying at every conceivable workplace, waiting by the phone at night, in case someone called.

But no one ever did. So one night, Osaka got a bit of an idea, to ease the boredom. She hauled out an art pad she had gotten the second day of school, but had just never found the time to use, and a few pencils and erasers. Thinking for a second, she let the pencil touch the pad, and she began to draw. She didn't know what exactly she was going for, but just let whatever hit her mind first flow out onto the paper.

Osaka was utterly absorbed in her drawing; the phone rang three different times, but she didn't hear it in the least bit. Finally, she was in her element.

Finally, when she finished, she looked down. She was surprised to find out that it actually looked good- much better, in any case, than the panda she'd tried to draw for Chiyo-chan so long ago. Delighted with herself, she decided to take a walk.

While she was out, she happened upon a bookstore, where a publishing representative was there, asking if anyone had any works they'd like to submit. Osaka ran over to him, and ended up bringing him to her apartment to see her work.

The rep liked it, and asked Osaka if she wanted to work for them, designing and writing children's books. Naturally, Osaka agreed, and the two headed out to the company site.

-----

It was like time flew by for Osaka; it was like one day, she was in her apartment, waiting for that one call, and the next… it was six years later. In that time, Osaka had become quite well-known for her children's books, and she had grown very confident in her artistic ability, which itself had improved dramatically since she'd started.

One day, though, Osaka got to thinking- about Chiyo-chan, no less. For more than six years, she'd heard practically nothing from her old classmate, and she found herself wanting more than ever to see her. She tried to think of any excuse to go see her; she'd found that… she loved Chiyo-chan, like she'd never loved anyone before. She'd never even had a boyfriend yet, having worked so hard on her art/writing career. So, Osaka looked, for any reason to head over to the States.

She got one in the mail about three months later. An old family friend that she hadn't heard from in ages, wrote and told her about a publishing opportunity that her company had. She explained that she'd heard about Osaka's career choice, and thought that Osaka might be interested in coming over to apply for the position.

Osaka immediately wrote back, and said she would. She got all of her stuff together, and an agonizing month and a half later, she stepped off her flight, and into the land called the United States.

And to top it all off, she found her Chiyo-chan, who had turned out to be just as excited to see Osaka, as Osaka was to see her.

• • • • •

Osaka snapped out of it. She thought about the deadline she had coming up, and decided to get to work early that day. She went into her art closet (which, for a regular closet, was quite large) and sat down at her bench. Reaching for her brush, she picked up, instead, an envelope. She looked down at it, but couldn't even recognize the return address.

Slowly, she opened it. The letter inside turned out to be as sloppily-written as the return address was, but somehow she could read it fine.

"Dear Osaka," she read aloud; the rest was just a mumble, but a grin was on her face before she was finished reading.

"Wow," she said aloud, wheeling around on her bench. "A reunion! Has it really been that long?" She looked out the window, a tear sliding down her cheek. "If only you could see me now…"

**(End Note: Guys and gals, I am **_**so**_** sorry for taking over three months to post chapter three to this! I ended up having quite a bit of fun writing this one, seeing as Osaka is definitely my favorite Azumanga Daioh character. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed it. Chapter four will be about Kagura, so stay tuned!)**


	4. Chapter 4

…**To Be Loved - Tomo**

--

Huffing heavily, the perpetrator darted around a corner, trying to evade the policemen who were chasing him. It didn't help, either, that he wasn't physically fit enough to put up much resistance. Nevertheless, he wasn't about to get caught, either, so he just kept running.

As the sirens faded into the distance, he began to realize that he hadn't been caught, and that he probably wouldn't be, either. Stopping suddenly, he breathed a deep sigh of relief, and tried to catch his breath before moving on.

His eyes subconsciously darted from left to right, and left again, looking for anything suspicious, that might alert him that the police had not left him alone, like he had thought originally.

"Jeez…" he said aloud to himself, "all this just for stealing $100 from my cash register?"

Putting those thoughts aside, he turned and began walking confidently towards the nearest end of the alleyway. His fear was diminishing by the second, and he began to be certain that they would never catch him for this.

What he hadn't counted on, though, was one young lady's clumsiness.

As he stepped into the open air, a young woman was exiting a convenience store, happily eating an _onigiri_ that she had just bought. She didn't even see the man walking out in front of her, and ran directly into him. She had coincidentally sped up just as she exited the store, and the man fell on his rear in surprise.

As he was getting up, dusting himself off, two police cars pulled into the parking lot, one on either side of him. In a moment, he was in the back of the car, and they were pulling off into the distance.

One of the officers leaned out the window and yelled back, "Thanks, Tomo-chan!"

Tomo adopted a puzzled look on her face. "Thanks? For what?"

**---**

This was just one example of an event in the life of Tomo Takino, policewoman extraordinaire.

Okay, so she really wasn't that extraordinary in her line of work. Just merely lucky. _Really_ lucky.

But, she wasn't always this lucky. Not even going back to her high school days.

This is her tale, going back to that fateful moment.

What moment, you ask? Well, here it is…

**---**

For years, Tomo had known that she wanted to be a policewoman. She just felt, deep down inside of her, that this was to be her calling.

So naturally, she wanted people's advice about it. She would go around, asking her friends what they thought about the idea.

Their comments, though, were less than encouraging for her.

"Don't you think you're a bit too dumb to be a policewoman?" some said.

"Can you even afford to go into schooling to get your degree?" others asked.

And really, if she admitted it to herself, they all had a point. Even back in high school, she hadn't been a very conscientious individual; even her friends could have told her that.

There was the time when she accidentally caused Kagura to knock down the tent that the class was setting up for the athletics festival.

There was the time that she flung Chiyo-chan's keys out into her front yard, causing an extensive delay in their entering Chiyo-chan's summer home.

And there were other times, too. Many of them.

The other kids had a point, though, too. Tomo's family had never been rich; in fact, they'd told her quite a few times that they may not be able to pay for her college. Now, they'd never really been lacking for much, but at the same time, they weren't like Chiyo-chan's parents, either.

Tomo hated that sometimes, but she learned every time to deal with it.

And now, it had come the time to enter school. She had been accepted at only one school, Kaolen University. **(Author's Note: See author's note in previous chapter, concerning the school name.) **

_At least,_ she thought, _Osaka is here with me._ And armed with that comforting thought, she entered into her years of schooling.

**---**

Her freshman year turned out to be somewhat of a shock for her. She was used to being known by a lot of her classmates, and in being in somewhat small-sized classes. However, in college, her classes (not to mention the school in general) were well more than what she had grown up with.

Plus, all the food that she could eat, in the cafeteria… She loved that.

Not everything was all good, though…

She found that fitting in with her classmates was harder than she had expected. They weren't yet used to her oddball behavior and weird mannerisms, and thus they sometimes cast her odd looks, or just ignored her all together.

Even her roommate, Akani, found her to be a bit too outside the norm, and thus tried to avoid Tomo as much as she could- unless she needed help with something, that is…

But, she was determined to make it through. And, she did. Her grades weren't perfect, but at least she was able to pass all her classes.

Barely…

**---**

During her sophomore year, things began to look up for her. Her classmates were starting to understand her, more and more. She had even become friends with Kanaho, a boy who had a few classes with her, and who lived a few rooms down from her. **(Author's note: It's a co-ed dorm.) **

She had even convinced the dorm director to give her a singles' dorm, in order to avoid the same mishaps that had taken place the year before.

And, a plus for her, she had somehow managed to avoid putting on the full "Freshman 15"- she only put on seven pounds, and that really didn't even show on her frame.

But, not everything was going well…

She had begun to take her major-specific classes that year, and had found that even though criminal justice was her passion, she was finding her classes harder and harder as the year progressed. Luckily for her, though, Kanaho was helping her all the way, and she managed to pass with just about the same grades she did last term.

More importantly for her, though, she and Kanaho were growing closer by the day…

**---**

Her junior year started out well. She was able to pick most of the classes that she wanted, during most of the times that she wanted.

Plus, a joyous occasion happened to her a few weeks into her third year: During their weekly lunch together, she asked Kanaho to go out with her. She was wary of the answer, but she didn't need to be- he said "yes" almost immediately, a giant grin on his face.

But, during the winter break, something terrible happened to Tomo, something that she never saw coming.

Her younger brother died. **(Author's note: This part is AU; I have no idea whether Tomo had a brother or not. She does in my story, though…)**

She and her little brother had been very close, almost the entire time that they were growing up; they did a lot of things together, and she never hesitated to help him in any way that she could.

When he died, though, her entire world changed. And one thought kept consistently running through her mind: _Can I still go on with going to school, feeling like this?_

Her decision was almost made for her, though, when Kanaho stopped by during the break to comfort her. He and Tomo talked about her future at Kaolen U, and what other options she had in her situation.

And, due to his guidance, she eventually decided to continue her schooling, though she wasn't doing it just for him- she wanted to do it for her little brother, too.

With him in her mind constantly, she finished out her junior year. Her grades actually improved, too, to the point where she was informed that she qualified for numerous scholarships- enough to pay for her final year in school.

Most of all, though… She was happy with where she was at, and how her relationship with Kanaho had grown immensely that semester. And, she thought… she was ready for the final stretch.

**---**

Her senior year started off faster than any of the other years had. She only had a few classes left to take, which left her with quite a bit of time to do whatever she wanted.

So, she took the advice of her professors, and began an internship with the local police force.

Throughout the year, she balanced school with her work schedule, and though it was hard to do, she pulled it off, in no small part due to her friends and Kanaho.

And speaking of Kanaho… Three weeks before the end of her senior year, another major change happened in their relationship. This time, though, he was the one who initiated it.

Kneeling in front of a shocked and confused Tomo, Kanaho asked her to marry him.

She nearly knocked him all the way to the floor by hugging him, but a moment later, she agreed.

And, three weeks later, she graduated, with her degree in Criminal Justice. Her grades hadn't qualified her for valedictorian or salutatorian, but she did make a speech, though it was only to her friends at their graduation party.

"My friend Osaka," she said, "started off at this school, but wasn't able to finish here. But, she was a big reason that I survived those first few months. And for that, I am forever grateful to her."

And to her, they drank.

**---**

Almost ten years had passed since she graduated college. Tomo was still working for the local police force, in their Investigations division. She was saddened that she hadn't yet been offered a job with Interpol yet, but she still held hope that someday that would come true.

And, she was still married to Kanaho after all these years.

After a particularly hard day at work, Tomo came home just wanting to go to sleep and stay that way for a few days. After kissing Kanaho hello, she collapsed onto the couch in exhaustion.

"Did I get any mail today?" she asked weakly, not even knowing whether he heard her or not.

He did.

"Yeah, a few things," he replied. "A couple of bills, and a letter from someone named Yukari…"

In a flash, she was into the kitchen.

"Did… you just say Yukari?"

He handed her the letter. "Yeah, why?"

She recognized the handwriting and grinned. "She was our English teacher in high school." Tearing open the letter, she began to read.

"Dear Tomo, you are invited to…"

It took her a minute to read the letter aloud; when she did, she looked up to see a smile on Kanaho's face.

"I guess we're going then, eh?"

In response, Tomo leaned up and kissed Kanaho, smiling when they broke apart. "We wouldn't miss it for anything…"

--

**If you looked at the very end of the last chapter I wrote, you saw that I promised a chapter about Kagura next. Unfortunately, I had a whole bunch of trouble coming up with a story for her, so I put Kagura aside, and instead focused on Tomo-chan. **

**Oh and… **_**sumimasen**_** for taking almost a year and a half to update this. As with some of my older stories, writers' block/forgetfulness caused the obscene delay in update times.**

**So, I hope some of you are still left out there to have read it… And I hope you enjoyed it, as always!**

**(One last thing: In case you didn't get the title's reference, it's the name of a song by Papa Roach- "…To Be Loved." It's one of their singles, and also (I believe) the current theme song for WWE Monday Night Raw. I just happened to be listening to it at the time I was writing this, and I thought the title fit well with Tomo and Kanaho being in the story together. Thus, the title.)**


End file.
